Inhalation device and method

ABSTRACT

A method and device for delivering a pharmaceutical to the airway of a human or animal patient, in one aspect, includes a dose drum formed into a cylinder and including a plurality of dose compartments for containing individual doses. In another aspect, the device may include a reservoir containing a pharmaceutical material in bulk form and a metering recess for metering the pharmaceutical material to form a pharmaceutical dose. Another aspect provides an inhaler with a combined reservoir and dosing chamber configured to contain multiple doses of a pharmaceutical material.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a divisional of co-pending application Ser. No. 12/985,158, filed Jan. 5, 2011, which claims priority from the U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/292,401, filed Jan. 5, 2010; U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/292,403, filed Jan. 5, 2010; and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/292,404, filed Jan. 5, 2010; the contents of which are incorporated herein in their entirety, by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates generally to the field of inhalation devices. The disclosure has particular utility in connection with the delivery of powdered medications to a patient using a dry powder inhaler, and will be described in connection with such utility, although other utilities are contemplated.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Certain diseases of the respiratory tract are known to respond to treatment by the direct application of therapeutic agents. As these agents are most readily available in dry powdered form, their application is most conveniently accomplished by inhaling the powdered material through the nose or mouth. This powdered form results in the better utilization of the medicament in that the drug is deposited exactly at the site desired and where its action may be required; hence, very minute doses of the drug are often equally as efficacious as larger doses administered by other means, with a consequent marked reduction in the incidence of undesired side effects and medicament cost. Alternatively, the drug in this form may be used for treatment of diseases other than those of the respiratory system. When the drug is deposited on the very large surface areas of the lungs, it may be very rapidly absorbed into the blood stream; hence, this method of application may take the place of administration by injection, tablet, or other conventional means.

It is the opinion of the pharmaceutical industry that the bioavailability of the drug is optimum when the drug particles delivered to the respiratory tract are between 1 to 5 microns in size. When the drug particles need to be in this size range the dry powder delivery system needs to address a number of issues:

(1) Small size particles may develop an electrostatic charge on themselves during manufacturing and storage. This may cause the particles to agglomerate or aggregate, resulting in clusters of particles which have an effective size greater than 5 microns. The probability of these large clusters making it to the deep lungs then decreases. This in turn results in a lower percentage of the packaged drug being available to the patient for absorption.

(2) The amount of active drug that needs to be delivered to the patient may be of the order of 10 s of micrograms. For example, in the case of albuterol, a drug used in asthma, this is usually 25 to 50 micrograms. Current manufacturing equipment can effectively deliver aliquots of drugs in milligram dose range with acceptable accuracy. So the standard practice is to mix the active drug with a filler or bulking agent such as lactose. This additive also makes the drug “easy to flow”. This filler is also called a carrier since the drug particles also stick to these particles through electrostatic or chemical bonds. These carrier particles are very much larger than the drug particles in size. The ability of the dry powder inhaler to separate drug from the carrier is an important performance parameter in the effectiveness of the design.

(3) Active drug particles with sizes greater than 5 microns will likely be deposited either in the mouth or throat. This introduces another level of uncertainty since the bioavailability and absorption of the drug in these locations is different from the lungs. Dry powder inhalers need to minimize the drug deposited in these locations to reduce the uncertainty associated with the bioavailability of the drug.

Prior art dry powder inhalers (DPIs) usually have a means for introducing the drug (active drug plus carrier) into a high velocity air stream. The high velocity air stream is used as the primary mechanism for breaking up the cluster of micronized particles or separating the drug particles from the carrier. Several inhalation devices useful for dispensing this powder form of medicament are known in the prior art. For example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,507,277; 3,518,992; 3,635,219; 3,795,244; and 3,807,400, inhalation devices are disclosed having means for piercing of a capsule containing a powdered medicament, which upon inhalation is drawn out of the pierced capsule and into the user's mouth. Several of these patents disclose propeller means, which upon inhalation aid in dispensing the powder out of the capsule, so that it is not necessary to rely solely on the inhaled air to suction powder from the capsule. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,517,482, a device is disclosed having a powder containing capsule placed in a lower chamber before inhalation, where it is pierced by manual depression of a piercing pin by the user. After piercing, inhalation is begun and the capsule is drawn into an upper chamber of the device where it moves about in all directions to cause a dispensing of powder through the pierced holes and into the inhaled air stream. U.S. Pat. No. 3,831,606 discloses an inhalation device having multiple piercing pins, propeller means, and a self-contained power source for operating the propeller means via external manual manipulation, so that upon inhalation the propeller means aids in dispensing the powder into the stream of inhaled air. See also U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,948,264 and 5,458,135.

In prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,318,434, 7,334,577 and 7,779,837 incorporated herein by reference, and assigned to the common assignee MicroDose Technologies, Inc., there is provided an improvement over prior art inhalers that utilize vibration to facilitate suspension of power into an inhaled gas stream and which utilizes synthetic jetting to aerosolize drug powder from a blister pack or the like. As taught in the aforesaid U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,318,434, 7,334,577 and 7,779,837 there is provided a dry powder inhaler having a first chamber such as a blister pack or other container, for and holding a dry powder, and a second chamber connected to the first chamber via a passageway for receiving an aerosolized form of the dry powder from the first chamber and for delivering the aerosolized dry powder to a user. A vibrator is coupled to the dry powder in the first chamber. The vibrator is energized and coupled to the first chamber and drives the powder from the chamber by synthetic jetting.

As described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,080,644 also incorporated herein by reference, and also assigned to common assignee MicroDose Technologies, Inc., controlled aliquots or doses of a medication or drug are pre-packaged in a blister pack, which includes a frangible crowned top element which may be conical, conical with a rounded point, rounded, or other raised shape configuration, and a bottom element which may be a flat web or membrane, or which itself may be of shaped configuration, e.g. conical, round, dish shaped, etc. for closely engaging with an underlying vibrating element, the shape and size of which is chosen to provide optimum controlled delivery of a given medication or drug. The top element of the blister pack is pierced with a piercing device such as a sharp needle to form one or more apertures for delivery of the medication or drug contained within the blister pack. The hole pattern and hole size is selected to provide optimization of delivery of the particular medication or drug packaged therein.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure in one aspect provides an improvement over the prior art devices such as discussed above by providing a compact size pharmaceutical delivery package for delivering a pharmaceutical to the airway of a human or animal patient, containing a plurality of individual doses of a pharmaceutical. The delivery package is comprised of a dose drum in the form of a cylinder which includes a plurality of dose compartments for containing the individual doses of a pharmaceutical and a sheath for surrounding the dose drum so as to contain and segregate the plurality of individual doses of a pharmaceutical in the dose compartments. The pharmaceutical delivery package may be formed to fit tightly around an outer surface of the dose drum, wherein the sheath has at least two holes, including a first hole for filling the dose compartment with a pharmaceutical and a second hole for allowing the delivery of one of said plurality of individual doses of a pharmaceutical. Alternatively the sheath may be formed of a tape or foil that may be peeled away or perforated to access the pharmaceutical dose contained therein.

Another aspect of the present invention provides an inhaler for delivering a pharmaceutical to the airway of a human or animal patient. The inhaler comprises a dose drum formed into a cylinder, the dose drum including a plurality of dose compartments for containing individual doses of a pharmaceutical; a sheath surrounding the dose drum; a dose chamber; and a flow channel, through which the individual dose is delivering to the airway of the patient. The dose chamber may be a resonance chamber coupled to a vibration device, such as a piezo-electric device. The inhaler may further include a drive for advancing the dose drum so that individual doses may be loaded into the dose chamber.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a method of delivering a pharmaceutical material to the airway of a human or animal patient, the method comprising the steps of providing the pharmaceutical material in a reservoir connected to a metering device; metering the pharmaceutical material with the metering device to form a single pharmaceutical dose; moving the single pharmaceutical dose into a dose chamber; deaggregating the pharmaceutical material of the single pharmaceutical dose; and delivering the single pharmaceutical dose from the dose chamber to the airway of the patient via a flow channel.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides an inhaler for delivering a pharmaceutical dose to the airway of a human or animal patient. The inhaler includes a reservoir that contains a pharmaceutical material in bulk form, a metering recess for metering the pharmaceutical material to form a pharmaceutical dose; a dose chamber; and a flow channel connected to the dose chamber, through which the pharmaceutical dose is delivered from the dose chamber to the airway of the patient. The metering recess may be located on the outer surface of a metering drum, which is rotated to load the metering recess and load the pharmaceutical dose into the dose chamber, the metering drum being surrounded by a sheath. Alternatively, the metering recess may be enclosed between a first metering door and a second metering door. The reservoir may be in the shape of a cylinder, the reservoir having a compression spring and piston for loading the pharmaceutical into the recess.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides an inhaler for delivering a pharmaceutical material to the airway of a human or animal patient, the inhaler including a dose chamber with a chamber seal and a flow channel. The dose chamber is sized to contain multiple doses of the pharmaceutical material. The dose chamber may be a resonance chamber that is coupled to a vibration device. The chamber seal may be connected to a pressurized source, such as a nitrogen chamber or a vacuum. The chamber seal may alternatively be connected to a desiccant source.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure provides a method of delivering a single dose of a pharmaceutical material to the airway of a human or animal patient. Multiple doses of the pharmaceutical material are contained in a resonance chamber. The pharmaceutical material is deaggregated using a vibration device coupled to the resonance chamber, thereby causing a synthetic jet to expel some of the pharmaceutical material. The delivery of the pharmaceutical material is metered by controlling the duration of operation of the vibration device, and may also be controlled by optimizing the vibrating frequency of the vibration device.

Still another aspect of the present disclosure provides a pharmaceutical delivery package in the form of a cartridge, which may be reusable. The cartridge contains a blister strip, formed on a substrate material, with a series of depressions or wells formed therein to contain individual doses of a pharmaceutical. A foil is placed over the substrate to seal the individual depressions, which serve to form individual blisters. The cartridge also includes an aerosol chamber for deaggregating the individual dose of a pharmaceutical and a device for advancing the blister strip relative to the aerosol chamber. The device for advancing the blister strip may comprise one or more of an arm, a spring, a cam, a gear, or a wheel. A blister detection switch facilitates controlling the advancement of the blister strip to consistently position individual blisters relative to the aerosol chamber. The cartridge also includes a device for removing the foil from the blister strip as it is advanced relative to the aerosol chamber. The cartridge also includes a mouthpiece and a flow channel, the flow channel connecting the aerosol chamber and the mouthpiece.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides an inhaler for delivering a pharmaceutical to the airway of a human or animal patient, utilizing the cartridge described above. The inhaler comprises a housing for a vibrating device and a motor. The cartridge should be formed in a loop, with the blister strip being contained within the loop. The housing include an air inlet and a pressure sensor, the air inlet interfacing or mating with the flow channel of the cartridge. An o-ring or the like may be used to seal the connection between the air inlet and the flow channel. The vibrating device, which may be a piezoelectric device, interfaces with the aerosol chamber of the cartridge. The aerosol chamber may form a resonant chamber. The motor also interfaces with the cartridge, providing the power for driving the device for advancing the blister strip and the device for removing the foil.

Yet another aspect of the present disclosure provides an inhaler for automatically delivering a pharmaceutical to the airway of a human or animal patient. The inhaler comprises a housing containing at least one dose of a pharmaceutical, a pressure sensor, a vibrating device, and an aerosol chamber. The housing is connected to an interface for delivering the pharmaceutical to the patient, and through which the patient breathes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further features and advantages of the present disclosure will be seen from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein

FIGS. 1A-D, are drawings showing a pharmaceutical delivery package and inhaler of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a drawing of a dose drum according to one example of the present disclosure; and

FIGS. 3A-C are drawings of a pharmaceutical delivery package and inhaler in an alternative example of the present disclosure;

FIG. 4 is a drawing of a pharmaceutical delivery package and delivery device according to another example of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a drawing of a blister strip in accordance with the example shown in FIG. 4;

FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C, are sectional views of the pharmaceutical delivery package shown in FIG. 4;

FIGS. 7A, 7B, 7C and 7D; 8A, 8B and 8C; 9A and 9B; and 10A, 10B and 10C are sectional views of the pharmaceutical delivery package and device of FIG. 4 assembled together;

FIGS. 11A and 11B are drawings showing different views of an inhalation device in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIGS. 12A and 12B are drawings showing different views of another inhalation device in accordance with the present disclosure;

FIGS. 13A and 13B are drawings of a pharmaceutical material delivery package and inhaler in accordance with another example of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the following description, reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form a part hereof, and in which is shown, by way of illustration, various embodiments of the present disclosure. It is understood that other embodiments may be utilized and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

The present disclosure provides an improved inhalation device and method for delivering a pharmaceutical to the airway of a patient. The intended patient may be either human or animal and the inhalation device should be designed accordingly. The inhaler will be discussed in connection with a dry powder inhaler, but it is foreseeable that the present disclosure also will be useful in other types of inhalers.

In a first aspect, the present disclosure provides a package for delivering discrete doses of a pharmaceutical, wherein the individual doses are segregated into individual compartments arranged in a pattern on a cylindrical dose drum. The individual doses may be deposited in individual blisters, such as described in commonly-owned U.S. application Ser. No. 11/425,097, incorporated by reference herein. The individual doses may also be encapsulated in between membranes or between a membrane and a substrate, which may or may not be formed with preformed dimples or other indentations to form part of the compartments.

The individual compartments are arranged in a pattern on the cylindrical dose drum, which comprises a substrate formed into a cylindrical shape, the dose drum having an inner face and an outer face. The compartments that contain individual doses of pharmaceuticals may be formed either on the inner face of the substrate or the outer face of the substrate. Alternatively, the compartments may be formed protruding from the substrate at least partially on both the inner surface and outer surface. The substrate may be made from any suitable material, such as for example a plastic, ceramic, paper or metal material, and may range from transparent to opaque in appearance.

In one example of the present aspect of the disclosure, the dose drum is formed of a substrate material configured into a cylinder having an arrangement of dimples, each dimple comprising a recessed volume configured to protrude from the substrate towards the center of the dose drum. The individual dose compartments are formed by the dimples and constrained by a sheath. Referring to FIGS. 1A-D, the sheath 20 may be formed to fit over the dose drum 10 according to a tight tolerance to sufficiently segregate the individual dose compartments 12. In this regard, the sheath may comprise a tightly fitting sleeve that will surround the dose drum for the purposes of containing each dose in its respective dose compartment and provide a moisture barrier for drug preservation or stability. The drum sheath may be configured with a filling access porthole 21 in its surface to allow filling the compartments with the chosen pharmaceutical, and a dose porthole 32 for emptying the dose compartment into dose chamber 30.

The sheath also may be formed of a membrane, such as a tape, foil, or film material, which may adhere to the dose drum in order to segregate the individual doses. The membrane should be sufficiently strong to hold the pharmaceutical material, but may also be designed to be perforated or removed, with respect to a single dose compartment, as an individual dose is ready to be loaded into the dose chamber of an inhaler. An example of this alternative design is shown in FIG. 2, wherein the dimples (not visible) are formed in a helical pattern on the dose drum and the sheath comprises a strip of peelable film, foil or tape 15.

FIGS. 3A-C demonstrate another example of the present disclosure. In this example, the cylinder forming the dose drum is increased in diameter and reduced in height, forming a dose ring 60. The dose ring takes the form of a circular band with compartments arranged circumferentially that will accept pre-metered drug weights and/or volumes. The dose ring may be connected to a drive that will cause the ring to advance in a rotary direction. Whereas the dose drum of FIGS. 1A-D has a height that is greater than one row of dose compartments, the dose ring is only the height of a single row of dose compartments.

The sheath of the present disclosure is adapted in the present example to form ring sheath 70, a tightly fitting sleeve that surrounds the dose ring for the purposes of containing each dose in its respective dose container and providing a moisture barrier for preservation of the pharmaceutical substance. Similar to the sheath above, the ring sheath will have a filling access porthole 71 and a dose porthole 72, the latter of which is connected to the dose chamber. Similar to the dose drum above, the ring sheath could be replaced with a peelable film, foil or tape that would be removed from each dose container just prior to being exposed to the dosing chamber.

The dose drum of the present disclosure may be loaded with individual doses by being mated with a hopper containing a desired pharmaceutical, wherein the geometry of the individual dose compartments may serve to help meter the pharmaceutical.

The dose drum may be manufactured as a reusable component of an inhaler or as a disposable pharmaceutical dose container. The particular design may instruct as to what materials are suitable for use in the construction of the dose drum.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides an inhaler for delivering a pharmaceutical to the airway of a human or animal patient utilizing a dose drum as described above. Referring again to FIGS. 1A-D, the inhaler comprises a dose drum 10, having a cylindrical substrate with a plurality of dose compartments 12 disposed thereon, a dose chamber 30 for accepting the individual pharmaceutical dose from individual dose compartments prior to delivery to the patient, and a flow channel 40 adjacent to the dose chamber for carrying the pharmaceutical to the airway of the patient.

The dose chamber 30 may comprise a resonance chamber, having a volume and shape that will acoustically resonate at a chosen frequency. The resonance chamber may in turn be coupled to a vibration device 50, such as a piezoelectric transducer, to provide vibratory energy for utilizing the acoustic properties of the resonance chamber to create a synthetic jet, as described in commonly-owned U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,318,434, 7,334,577 and 7,779,837, the contents of which patents are incorporated herein by reference. The resonance chamber will receive an individual dose from the dose drum via dose porthole 22. Other examples of appropriate vibrating devices are disclosed in commonly-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/060,267, incorporated herein by reference.

The pharmaceutical material is then de-agglomerated and expelled into the flow channel 40 by synthetic jetting through dosing holes 32. The dosing holes promote the formation of a synthetic jet and facilitate the transfer of the pharmaceutical from the dosing chamber into the flow channel. The size of the holes can effect synthetic jet velocity and, ultimately, fine particle distribution.

The vibration device 50 is connected to a power supply 52. The vibration device may further be connected to a frequency generator for optimal performance, such as is described in commonly-owned co-pending U.S. application Ser. No. 12/392,686, incorporated herein, by reference.

The inhaler may utilize a placement device for advancing the dose drum and aligning a particular dose compartment with the dose porthole of the sheath. The placement device may be, for example, a screw-drive device. The placement device may influence the chosen geometric arrangement of the dose compartments about the surface of the dose drum, such as shown in FIG. 2, for example.

The inhaler of the present disclosure may further comprise a chamber seal. The chamber seal may be in the form of a stopper that prevents the passage of air into the dose chamber when the device is idle. This is included to further avoid unwanted exposure of individual doses to moisture, oxygen and other contaminants. The chamber seal will open on authorization signal from the inhaler, such when the inhaler senses the patient inhaling (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,152,130 and U.S. Published Application Serial No. 2005/0183725, both assigned to the common assignee), and close after the dose is complete.

The chamber seal may further be connected to a pressurized nitrogen chamber by a nitrogen line that would fill the dose chamber with nitrogen between doses. It could also be connected to a vacuum source to evacuate air and moisture between doses. This may be done using at least a portion of the same nitrogen line. The chamber seal may also be connected to a desiccant chamber to absorb moisture transferred from the atmosphere during dosing.

The device of the present disclosure is susceptible to modification. For example, the dose chamber may be connected to multiple dose drums for delivering combination pharmaceutical products.

Referring to FIGS. 4-11, another aspect of the present disclosure provides an inhaler 101 utilizing a pharmaceutical delivery package in the form of a cartridge 120, which cartridge may be reusable or disposable. The principle of operation for this device is in similar to the above-described device, and as further described in the afore-mentioned commonly-owned patents. In particular, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2010/0294278, incorporated by reference herein, describes a compact inhaler wherein the plurality of individual doses of a pharmaceutical are contained in a rotary cassette. The cassette contains a radial arrangement of individual blisters. The inhaler described therein is similar in many ways to the present aspect of the disclosure, except in that the rotary cassette is replaced by a cartridge 120 containing a blister strip 130. Other differences may be apparent from the discussion that follows.

As seen in FIGS. 4-10, the inhaler generally comprises a housing 110 and a cartridge 120. As with previous disclosures, the inhaler includes a mouthpiece 125 and a vibrating device 111. The mouthpiece is connected to a flow channel 123, which is connected to an aerosol chamber 121, situated adjacent to the vibrating device. Unlike previous examples, however, the mouthpiece, flow channel and aerosol chamber are incorporated into the cartridge 120. This arrangement affords advantages in reducing the size of the inhaler, drug protection and maintaining performance.

The cartridge 120 contains a blister strip 130, which is comprised of a substrate 133, such as a cold-formed plastic, with a series of depressions 132 or wells formed therein to contain the individual doses 105. A foil, film or tape 135 is placed over the substrate to seal the individual depressions, which form individual blisters 131 filled with the pharmaceutical. The cartridge also includes an aerosol chamber 121, in which the individual doses are deaggregated according the methods described above and in the above-referenced applications. The aerosol chamber is preferably a resonance chamber, as described herein, and is bounded by a membrane 122 which contacts the vibrating device 111 when assembled.

In the example shown, the cartridge also includes an advancing device 140 for advancing the blister strip 130 relative to the aerosol chamber 121. The device for advancing the blister strip may comprise an arm, a spring, a cam, a gear, a wheel, or any combination thereof. For example, FIG. 5 shows a pilot loop 148, which engages the blister strip, similar to a combination of a spring and an arm, in order to advance the blister strip. A blister detection switch 142 senses the advancement of the blister strip and facilitates controlling the advancement of the blister strip to consistently position individual blisters relative to the aerosol chamber 121.

The cartridge also includes a foil, film or tape removal device 141 for removing the foil, film or tape from the blister strip as it is advanced relative to the aerosol chamber. The foil, film or tape removal device includes a take-up spool 145. Once the foil, film or tape is removed, the individual dose 105 is emptied into the aerosol chamber 121 for delivery to the patient.

The arrangement of the blisters 131 on blister strip 130 facilitates, or necessitates, the formation of the cartridge 120 in a loop, i.e., having an open area 150 in the center. The housing includes a complementary protrusion 151. Within the protrusion, the housing contains a battery 112 and motor 113. The motor turns gears 143,144, and thereby drives the take-up spool 145 and foil removal device 141. The battery also provides power to the vibrating device 111, which may be a piezoelectric device. The battery also may be carried on the cartridge, and replaceable with the cartridge. Alternatively, the blister strip may be advanced by a thumb-screw, lever or clock mechanism, for example.

In the example shown, the housing further includes an air inlet 116, which connects to the flow channel 123 of the cartridge. An o-ring 119 may be placed to facilitate a seal at the interface between the flow channel and the air inlet. A pressure sensor 117, powered by the battery, is located in a pressure sensor port 118 near the air inlet in order to sense the breathing of the patient through the inhaler.

The present aspect is subject to modification in accordance with the other examples contained herein and in the commonly-owned patents incorporated by reference. For example, the inhaler could be constructed with the mouthpiece 125, flow channel 123, aerosol chamber 121, or any combination thereof, forming part of the main housing 110 instead of the cartridge 120.

The present disclosure further provides a method and device for metering a pharmaceutical material into a dosage amount and delivering that dose to the airway of a patient.

For example, one aspect of the present disclosure provides an inhaler for delivering a pharmaceutical dose to the airway of a patient. The intended patient may be either human or animal and the inhalation device should be designed accordingly. The inhaler will be discussed in connection with a dry powder inhaler, but it is foreseeable that the present disclosure will also be useful in modifying the designs of other types of inhalers.

The inhaler includes a reservoir, which contains a pharmaceutical material in bulk form. Referring to FIGS. 11A-B and FIGS. 12A-B, one advantageous shape of the reservoir may be a cylinder wherein the reservoir includes a piston 211 and compression spring 212 to assist in emptying the reservoir. Other shapes, such as spheres, cones and so forth, are also available and the figures are not meant to limit the present disclosure to the use of a cylindrical reservoir. Other forms of back pressure may be used as an alternative to the piston and compression spring. Similarly, many types of springs, aside from the helical spring shown, are suitable for use with the inhalation device of the present disclosure. A significant advantage of the present disclosure is that the reservoir may be reloaded with bulk material and the device may be reused.

The inhalation device of the present example also includes a metering device for measuring the bulk pharmaceutical material into a single pharmaceutical dose. The metering device should have a metering recess for receiving the pharmaceutical material from the reservoir, the metering recess being sized to receive the desired dose.

Referring to FIGS. 11A and 11B, the metering device may be comprised of a metering drum 220 and a sheath 230. In this example, the metering recess is formed as a metering dimple 222 on the outer surface of the metering drum. The dimple may be formed integral to the metering drum and should be manufactured to a precision volume for the purpose of metering the pharmaceutical dose.

The sheath 230 is formed to fit tightly around the outer surface of the metering drum, but not so tight as to prevent the metering drum from rotating on its axis. The inhalation device may include a drive for rotating the metering drum. The rotation of the metering drum will align the metering recess 222 with one of at least two holes 231,232 in the sheath. The filling access porthole 231 is located on the sheath 230 at the interface with the reservoir 210 and allows the metering recess 222 to be filled with the pharmaceutical material 201. The dose porthole 232, allows the metered pharmaceutical dose to be delivered to a dose chamber 240.

The dose chamber is configured to accept a single pharmaceutical dose, deaggregate the pharmaceutical material, and deliver the material to the flow channel 250. The dose chamber will be configured based upon the various methods that may be used for delivering medication to the patient.

As with the previous examples, the dose chamber may comprise a resonance chamber, having a volume and shape that will acoustically resonate at a chosen frequency. The advantages of this feature are discussed above. Further, as described above, the resonance chamber may be coupled to a vibration device 244, such as a piezoelectric transducer, to provide vibratory energy for utilizing the acoustic properties of the resonance chamber. The vibration device is connected to a power supply 246.

Referring to FIGS. 12A and 12B, the metering device of the present disclosure may comprise a metering recess or metering compartment that is enclosed by at least two metering doors 225, 226. The first metering door 225 sits between the metering compartment and the dose chamber 240. The second metering door 226 is between the metering compartment and the reservoir 210. Thus, when the second metering door opens (the first metering door remaining closed), the metering compartment may be loaded with the pharmaceutical material 201. Then, when the first metering door is opened (the second metering door remaining closed), the metered dose of pharmaceutical material may be placed in the dose chamber.

The present disclosure also provides a method for delivering a pharmaceutical material to the airway of a patient, which may be human or animal, by providing the pharmaceutical material in a reservoir connected to a metering device; metering the pharmaceutical material with the metering device to form a single pharmaceutical dose; moving the single pharmaceutical dose into a dose chamber; deaggregating the pharmaceutical material in the single pharmaceutical dose; and delivering the single pharmaceutical dose from the dose chamber to the airway of the patient via a flow channel.

The method of the present disclosure may be used with a metering device such as described herein comprising a metering drum and a sheath. Alternatively, the metering device may comprise a metering compartment enclosed between a first metering door and a second metering door, wherein the second metering door is opened during the step of metering the pharmaceutical material, and the first metering door is opened during the step of moving the single pharmaceutical dose into the dose chamber.

The dose chamber may serve as a resonance chamber, being coupled to a vibration device, wherein the step of deaggregating the pharmaceutical material involves activating the vibration device to create a synthetic jet thereby delivering the single pharmaceutical dose from the dose chamber to the airway of the patient via a flow channel.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a device for metering a pharmaceutical material into a selected dosage amount and delivering that dose to the airway of a patient. The device of the present disclosure is an inhaler that includes a chamber, which contains the pharmaceutical material, and a flow channel for delivering the pharmaceutical material to the patient. Basic functions of each of these elements are described in the commonly-owned disclosures mentioned above.

According to the present disclosure, multiple doses of a pharmaceutical material are stored within a combined reservoir and dosing chamber, which chamber is designed to store multiple doses of the pharmaceutical material, and meter out the pharmaceutical material in predetermined doses.

Referring to FIGS. 13A and 13B, an inhaler is illustrated comprising a combined reservoir and dosing chamber which is configured to accept a supply of a pharmaceutical material, deaggregate the pharmaceutical material, and deliver the material to the flow channel 340. The combination reservoir and dosing chamber 330 comprises a resonance chamber, having a volume and shape that will acoustically resonate at a chosen frequency. The resonance chamber and the advantages thereof are discussed in detail above.

The inhaler of the present disclosure optionally may comprise a chamber seal 336. The chamber seal may be in the form of a stopper that prevents the passage of air into the combined reservoir and dosing chamber when the device is idle. This is included to further avoid unwanted exposure of the pharmaceutical material to moisture, oxygen and other contaminants. The chamber seal will open on authorization signal from the inhaler, such as when the inhaler senses the patient inhaling (see previously referenced commonly-owned patents and applications), and close after the dose has been delivered.

The chamber seal 336 optionally may further be connected to a pressurized nitrogen chamber by a nitrogen line 360 that would fill the combined reservoir and dose chamber with nitrogen between doses. Chamber seal 336 also could be connected to a vacuum source to evacuate air and moisture between doses. This may be done using at least a portion of the same nitrogen line 360. The chamber seal also may be connected to a desiccant chamber to absorb moisture transferred from the atmosphere during dosing.

The present disclosure allows the combined reservoir and dosing chamber to hold multiple doses to be expelled by synthetic jetting through dosing hole 332, as described above. The dose size will be controlled electronically by controlling the frequency and duration of each activation. Because the acoustic resonance will be affected by the remaining drug load, each dose activation preferably is electronically tailored to provide consistent drug expulsion for every dose, e.g. by sensing movement of the vibration device and power source, and feedback controlling the power delivered to the vibration device following the teachings of commonly-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/246,208, incorporated herein by reference.

An example of the present disclosure was tested using a blister that was set up to serve as a resonance chamber for expelling multiple doses. A 4 mg blister was loaded into the test device and the parameters were set to allow from approximately 1 mg of pharmaceutical to be expelled with each dose. This was repeated for additional doses. Blisters were removed and weighed between actuations. In tables 1 and 2, below, it is shown that by varying the “on-time”, or the duration of activating the vibration device, doses can be delivered with adequate predictability, even without optimization of the vibrating frequency and pattern.

TABLE 1 150 ms on-time 1^(st) dose 2^(nd) dose 1 1.058 1.262 2 1.239 1.259 3 1.229 1.369 Mean 1.18 1.30 SD 0.10 0.03 % RSD 8.66 4.83 Max-Min 0.18 0.11

TABLE 2 125 ms on-time 1^(st) dose 2^(nd) dose 3^(rd) dose 1 0.991 1.054 0.932 2 1.09 1.052 0.808 3 0.931 1.108 0.914 Mean 1.00 1.07 0.88 SD 0.08 0.03 0.07 % RSD 8.00 2.97 7.57 Max-Min 0.16 0.06 0.12

The device of the present disclosure is susceptible to modification. Two or more combined reservoir and dosing chambers may be incorporated in a single inhaler for delivering combination pharmaceutical products.

Another aspect of the present disclosure provides a method for delivering a pharmaceutical material to the airway of a patient, which may be human or animal. The method provides a pharmaceutical material contained in a combined reservoir and dosing chamber which also serves as a resonance chamber. The pharmaceutical material is then vibration deaggregated within the combined reservoir and dosing chamber, allowing a single dose to be delivered to the patient via synthetic jetting. The step of deaggregating the pharmaceutical material, thereby creating the synthetic jet, may be performed by controlling the duration in which power is supplied to a vibration device 344 by a power source 352, as described above. The power source also may be a source of frequency control, for further controlling the effectiveness of the synthetic jetting.

The combined reservoir and dosing chamber also serves as a resonance chamber, by being coupled to a vibration device, wherein the step of deaggregating the pharmaceutical material involves activating the vibration device to create a synthetic jet thereby delivering the pharmaceutical from the combined reservoir and dosing chamber to the airway of the patient via a flow channel.

The present disclosure provides unique, space-saving designs which allow for the creation of a smaller delivery devices, conserve materials, enable the pharmaceutical packaging to include an increased number of metered doses in a single package and provides for a mechanism to allow delivery of a dry powder inhalation to patients not currently served by commercial dry powder inhalers.

As used herein the term “pharmaceuticals” is intended to include all forms of drugs suitable for deliver by an inhaler. For example, while the present disclosure is particularly useful with dry powder inhalers (DPIs), the technology may be used to enhance other embodiments of inhalers as well. Therefore, the pharmaceutical referred to in the present disclosure necessarily includes liquid forms of medications as well as dry powdered medications.

Moreover, the term pharmaceuticals should not be strictly construed to exclude other useful substances such as phyto-pharmaceuticals, vitamins, hormones, steroids and other bioactive small molecules, peptides, proteins, etc.

It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present device, particularly, and “preferred” embodiments, are merely possible examples of implementations and merely set forth for a clear understanding of the principles of the disclosure. Many different embodiments of a pharmaceutical package for an inhaler described herein may be designed and/or fabricated without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure. All these and other such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by the following claims. Therefore the scope of the disclosure is not intended to be limited except as indicated in the appended claims. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. An inhaler for delivering a pharmaceutical to the airway of a human or animal patient, comprising: a dose drum in the form of an elongate cylinder, the dose drum including a plurality of dose compartments located on an outer cylindrical surface of the dose drum for containing individual doses of a pharmaceutical; a flexible sheath formed of a tape, foil or film surrounding and covering in part the outer cylindrical surface of the dose drum, wherein the sheath is movably slidable on the dose drum to uncover one or more of said dose compartments to the outer cylindrical surface of the dose drum; a dose chamber; and a flow channel, through which the individual dose is delivered to the airway of the patient; wherein the dose chamber includes an opening for receiving said doses of a pharmaceutical, and wherein the dose chamber is a resonance chamber coupled to a vibration device.
 2. The inhaler of claim 1, wherein the vibration device is a piezo-electric device.
 3. The inhaler of claim 1, wherein the vibration device is connected to a frequency generator for controlling the vibration of the vibration device.
 4. The inhaler of claim 1, further comprising a drive for advancing and positioning the dose drum.
 5. The inhaler of claim 1, wherein the sheath is removed from a single dose compartment when delivering the individual dose contained in said dose compartment to the dose chamber.
 6. A method of delivering a pharmaceutical material to the airway of a patient, human or animal, the method comprising the steps of: providing the pharmaceutical material in a reservoir connected to a metering device; metering the pharmaceutical material with the metering device to form a pharmaceutical dose; moving the pharmaceutical dose into a dose chamber; deaggregating the pharmaceutical material of the pharmaceutical dose; and delivering the pharmaceutical dose from the dose chamber to the airway of the patient via a flow channel, wherein the metering device comprises a metering drum in one form of an elongate cylinder which rotates upon its axis, at least one metering recess located on an outer cylindrical surface of the metering drum; and a flexible sheath formed of a tape, foil or film surrounding and covering in part the outer cylindrical surface of the metering drum, wherein the sheath is movably slidable relative to the metering drum to uncover one or more of said metering recesses to the outer cylindrical surface of the dose drum; wherein the dose chamber includes an opening for receiving said pharmaceutical material, and wherein said dose chamber is a resonance chamber coupled to a vibration device, and wherein the step of deaggregating the pharmaceutical material involves activating the vibration device to create a synthetic jet thereby delivering the pharmaceutical dose from the dose chamber to the airway of a patient via the flow channel.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of moving the pharmaceutical dose into the dose chamber involves rotating the metering drum.
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the pharmaceutical material is in the form of a dry powder.
 9. An inhaler for delivering a pharmaceutical material to the airway of a patient, human or animal, comprising: a reservoir containing a pharmaceutical material; at least one metering recess metering the pharmaceutical material to form a pharmaceutical dose; a dose chamber; a flow channel, connected to the dose chamber, through which the pharmaceutical dose is delivered from the dose chamber to the airway of the patient; a metering drum configured as an elongate cylinder which rotates upon its axis, the at least one metering recess being located on an outer cylindrical surface of the metering drum; and a flexible sheath formed of a tape, foil or film surrounding and covering in part the outer cylindrical surface of the metering drum, wherein the sheath is movably slidable relative to the metering drum to uncover one of said metering recesses to the outer cylindrical surface of the dose drum; wherein the dose chamber includes an opening for receiving said pharmaceutical dose, and wherein the dose chamber is a resonance chamber coupled to a vibration device.
 10. The inhaler of claim 9, further comprising a drive for rotating the metering drum.
 11. The inhaler of claim 9, wherein the pharmaceutical is in the form of a dry powder.
 12. The inhaler of claim 9, wherein the vibration device is connected to a frequency generator for controlling the vibration of the vibration device. 